Page 43 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

THE WHY OF WORK

can make meaning even in the midst of challenges we face.
Like the Gross National Happiness index in Bhutan, the
abundance we imagine is not just an abundance of visible
assets (money, prestige, security, or position) but an abun-
dance of an intangible sense of purpose, identity, growth,
and well-being. To reiterate: an abundant organization is a
work setting in which individuals coordinate their aspira-
tions and actions to create meaning for themselves, value for
stakeholders, and hope for humanity at large.
For our friend Rena, whose home was broken into, a
focus on the things robbers could not steal—memories, lov-
ing bonds, personal skills and talents, deep religious faith,
opportunities for empathy and growth—allowed Rena to
shift gradually from fear-based deficit thinking to a way of
life that focused on all that she had, not all she had lost.
On life’s goodness and personal meaning, not just on its
precariousness.
Many leaders see employees’ search for meaning as their
own affair, while productivity and bottom-line results are the
business of business. We also advocate that companies exist
to get work done. In fact, rather than define an organization
by its structure, roles, or rules, we define it by its capabili-
ties: what that organization is good at doing (Apple has the
capability to innovate, Disney entertains, Marriott has the
capability to serve, and Walmart delivers low prices). To
survive, organizations must not only amass capabilities but
must also turn internal capabilities into value for external
stakeholders. For-profit enterprises must create products or
services that customers value and investors trust. Government
agencies must meet citizen demands and respond to legisla-
tive mandates. Not-for-profit organizations continue only if
they embody and further societal values. Capabilities link

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